


The Deadly Sin of Fame

by MissMysty



Category: Persona 5
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, M/M, Universe Alteration
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-24
Updated: 2018-01-24
Packaged: 2019-03-08 20:14:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,407
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13465719
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MissMysty/pseuds/MissMysty
Summary: The Phantom Thieves are getting famous, and Mishima, in his heart, is hoping it's because of him.  When the Phantom Thieves realize their own fan site admin has a palace, they decide to go after him- but it may be more complicated when the Metaverse Navigator shows up on his own phone as well.





	The Deadly Sin of Fame

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by [this piece of artwork](https://twitter.com/annakoart/status/955633589030354945)! There is also [a drabble to go along with it](http://archiveofourown.org/works/13460136) that I'd be remiss not to link you to, if you missed it. I have not actually spoken with the artist or author, but I really liked the AU idea so this is my own interpretation of it.

Clack. Clack. Clack.

There was a certain comfort in the sound of the keyboard. For a while now, Mishima had been staying up late because his own mind haunted him. He’d wake up screaming from nightmares of Kamoshida beating him, punching him, throwing him to the ground. The sounds the girls made as they were led into his office, the sounds they made when the door was shut and Mishima couldn’t bring himself to stay there.

Not that he would have been allowed anyway, if Kamoshida had known he was there. He was just the messenger, and he was living proof of what happens when you shoot the messenger.

The Phansite was still in its infancy, but after Kamoshida was taken down, people flocked to the internet for any crumb of information they could get. In the age of information at the tap of a finger on a touch screen, the Phantom Thieves Aficionados website had been the first hit, past the news articles reporting on Kamoshida’s downfall and the subsequent investigation into Shujin Academy’s utter lack of action despite that there had been plenty of evidence that he was abusing his position.

Mishima was proud. And he hadn’t been proud of anything he’d done in a long time. Despite that the forums grew every day as more and more people got curious about this new phenomenon and needed a place to throw around theories and rumors, he was still the sole admin. It was up to him to keep things in line, to make sure that the forums remained a safe haven for those who believed in the Phantom Thieves and wanted to see them do good in the world. That was why he had made the site, after all, though he’d never dreamed it would become the leading source for spreading their message.

When he finally looked at the clock, he realized it was past midnight. He could hear his mother in the hallway, probably up to get a drink before falling back asleep. She and his father were up and gone before he was, having a longer commute to work than he did to school. He only ever saw them in the evening these days. But that also meant he could do what he wanted with his time.

His eyes squinted as he yawned, and finally, he pushed his keyboard away and shut down his computer. His teachers would kill him if he fell asleep in class.

***

There was nothing particularly interesting about June 5th at first. The Phansite had been buzzing hard about the latest heist against the artist Madarame, and when Mishima checked the site on his phone once he got out of the subway, he realized that the man had called a press conference. Mishima himself had been heading to do some shopping and had, for the first time in weeks, neglected to check the forums the moment he woke up. It was Sunday, and it was nearing summer, and the heat that was starting to settle on Shibuya had made him sleepy and lazy.

But there he was on those huge TVs littered across the skyline of the city, confessing his sins just like Kamoshida had done at the school assembly that day. Mishima found himself clutching his phone as the forum’s live topic update feed started going faster and faster as everyone scrambled to be the first to talk about the success. Finally, so much activity in the browser caused his phone to error-out, and it quit out of the browser in an attempt to save memory.

Mishima took a deep breath, going into his text messages and sending one to the one person he cared about right now.

(text to: Kurusu) You guys did it, huh?

He didn’t expect an answer back right away, and yet it popped up, anyway.

(text from: Kurusu) Guess we did

For just a moment, he felt his heart skip a beat. He probably had a million things to be doing right now in light of Madarame’s confession, and he’d taken the time to immediately answer him. He tried to disregard the feeling, though. Akira was his friend, and he admired him as someone would admire any hero, super or otherwise. He had no idea how it was that the Phantom Thieves worked, despite that the site had been helping them find minor targets for a bit now. He just directed Akira and his friends towards them and let them do their job.

Admiration was all Mishima had for him, right?

***

“Dude!”

Monday morning saw Mishima dragging himself into the classroom as he usually did. He admittedly had more of a spring in his step than he used to, riding the high of seeing his website and forums explode in popularity after Madarame’s confession and the proof that the Phantom Thieves were indeed doing it all. He still looked like death warmed-over, but he managed the energy to lift his head and see Sakamoto was in their classroom, talking to Akira and Ann before classes started and he had to go off on his own.

They were the only ones there at the time, since it was just early enough that most students were either still on their way, or they were otherwise roaming the grounds, relaxing before class or finding something for breakfast. Mishima probably should have picked something up, at least from a vending machine, but his appetite was so bad these days, he might have ended up throwing-up even a protein bar.

Apparently none of the three realized they’d been joined by an outsider, because Ryuji went on with, “Look at all this! All these people are talking about us!”

“Can you really say they’re talking about us when they don’t even know who we are?” That was Ann, running her hands over one of her pigtails as Ryuji waved his phone around, showing-off the Phansite.

“Of course you can! We’re like super heroes now! Doin’ all this shit when people can’t see. We even have those hella cool costumes!”

Finally, Akira, who’d been sitting at his desk with his eyes cast down and his hands folded in his lap, looked up. “…good morning, Mishima.”

With that, Ryuji froze, his arm in the air where he was still waving his phone around. He slowly looked over his shoulder, doing his best to look sheepish. “Uh, hey, dude!”

Mishima looked embarrassed as he quickly bowed. “I um, I already know, about you guys, so don’t worry! There’s no way I’d tell, anyway. You’re like masked heroes, right?”

Before any of them could answer, Kawakami arrived, dragging herself into the classroom like there were ten million places she’d rather be. Many mornings, she looked a lot worse than most of her students, and all four teenagers took a moment to look at her before she turned to them, and they all quickly averted their gaze like they’d been caught doing something naughty.

She didn’t say a word, just looking at them one-by-one before sighing and sitting down at the desk.

Ryuji quickly scrambled to gather his bag and some food wrappers spread over Ann’s desk before making a break for it, sending a friendly finger gun towards Mishima. Mishima, for his part, glanced over to the two remaining people. Ann was hunched over her desk, texting on her phone, while Akira had his chin in his hand, gazing out the window.

There was that skipped beat again. Actually being here with Akira gave him more, though, a rushing feeling of adrenaline he hadn’t experienced since he’d quit playing sports. The volleyball club may or may not have still been there since Kamoshida’s downfall, but Mishima hadn’t gone back. Just the thought made him feel an overwhelming sense of dread.

He had missed this feeling, but at the same time, it was different. And it amplified when Akira turned his gaze to Mishima. “Something wrong?”

“Oh, n-no.” He quickly scrambled out of the doorway.

“You sure, Mishima?”

Before he could answer, Akira’s phone, which was lying out on the desk ignored, suddenly lit up, and Akira’s eyes immediately went to it. A voice came from it that broke Ann out of her texting hypnosis and made her turn to look at it as well.

Their eyes went to him, but neither said anything, and students started piling into the room, taking away any chance Mishima might have had to ask what was wrong.


End file.
